Contents

History

Blackgate Penitentiary is located on a small island in Gotham Bay, Gotham City. In the late 1980s, Blackgate Prison was condemned by Amnesty International and forced to shut down. When it eventually re-opened, it was officially known as "Blackgate Penitentiary".

Unlike Arkham Asylum, Blackgate is where non-insane criminals such as David Cain, Monsoon, Ernie Chubb, The KGBeast, Catman, and various henchmen, mobsters, and mafia bosses are incarcerated when captured. There are instances where inmates from Arkham Asylum are temporarily moved to Blackgate, such as when Bane destroyed the original Arkham building.[1] All of the Arkham inmates were incarcerated in Blackgate until the new Arkham structure was built and Arkham re-opened.[2]

Batman: Blackgate tells an interesting story of an attempted escape from Blackgate by a group of inmates. The prisoners in the story were Cluemaster, Steeljacket, Ratcatcher, The Trigger Twins, Dragoncat, Gunhawk, Czonka (The Baffler), Actuary, and although they were at first unsuccesful, they eventually escaped during the "Cataclysm," when an earthquake and the resulting tidal waves damaged the prison and open up a land bridge to Gotham. This allowed the majority of the inmates of Blackgate to escape, although many of them were defeated by the Batman before they could leave. They were all eventually re-incarcerated or put down while violently evading arrest. Most recently, Blackgate has been seen in the pages of Gotham Underground, where it is unclear whether or not they are active accomplices of the Suicide Squad in the Salvation Run deportations.